75 years on | The story of our maiden top-flight title success
It was on this day 75 years ago that Arthur Rowe led his Spurs side to League Championship success for the first time in our history. We revisit that glorious day in 1951…
Across London on 1 April 1950, goals from Les Medley and Eddie Baily gave us a 2-0 win at Loftus Road against Queens Park Rangers in a Division Two clash. As games go, it wasn’t particularly memorable, but the two points collected were highly significant as they secured our promotion back to the top flight of English football for the first time since 1935.
Manager Arthur Rowe’s side won 27 matches in 1949-50, eight more than anyone else in the division, and we won Division Two by 11 points from Sheffield Wednesday, who were promoted with us. More on the Owls later...
Rowe – born close to White Hart Lane and with over 200 appearances as a centre-half for us between 1930-38 – developed his renowned ‘push and run’ style of football which won many plaudits across the country.
His team of mostly home-grown players, including the likes of Bill Nicholson, Alf Ramsey, Les Bennett, Baily, Medley and Welsh international Ron Burgess, were expected to do well in the top flight in season 1950-51.
But an opening day 4-1 home defeat to a Blackpool side featuring Stanley Matthews and Stan Mortensen, immediately raised doubts as to whether we could cut it against better opposition. We were soon on track though, beating Bolton Wanderers by the same scoreline away from home and then drawing 2-2 in the first north London derby of the campaign at Highbury.
Victory followed against Manchester United, before we embarked on an eight-game winning run which included three impressive wins here at the Lane. Stoke City were brushed aside 6-1, league champions Portsmouth were defeated 5-1 and we thrashed FA Cup holders Newcastle United 7-0 in front of over 70,000 supporters.
The latter two wins certainly caught the eye of the public and media alike. One newspaper journalist wrote after the Pompey win: ‘On such form, Spurs simply must win the championship – and everything else for which they enter in the football world.’
The great Newcastle centre-forward, Jackie Milburn, spoke in glowing terms of our performance against his side, magnanimously saying: ‘They’re dynamite – far better than the Brazilians and I thought they were the tops.” One of the Magpies’ directors, Stanley Seymour, joined the chorus of praise, adding: “It’s tough to watch your side being beaten, but this was football at its best. I’d pick the lot for England!”
When Baily cracked home a stunning 25-yarder to give us a narrow 1-0 win over Arsenal in N17 on 23 December, 1950, we closed the gap on our local rivals who were second in the table at the time and, after Sonny Walters notched the only goal of the game against Charlton Athletic a few days later – in front of the watching Prime Minister, Clement Atlee – we were top of Division One at the start of 1951.
We lost just three of our next 14 league games, never relinquishing top spot and, by the time we welcomed Sheffield Wednesday to White Hart Lane on 28 April, 1951, we knew one more win would secure us the title.
An expectant crowd of 46,645 turned up that Saturday afternoon hoping to see us crowned champions, although Wednesday were desperate for the points too, having struggled throughout the season and finding themselves in the relegation zone when they arrived in north London.
We were much the stronger team on the day, although both sides created chances during the first half and it was down to the performances of the goalkeepers – our own Ted Ditchburn and Dave McIntosh for the Owls – that the score remained goalless.
However, just before the interval, Len Duquemin found himself free down the left and he placed a low shot past McIntosh and into the net, greeted by ‘an accompaniment of a storm of cheering that exceeded the usual ‘Tottenham roar’, according to our subsequent match programme at the time.
It proved to be the winner and, as goals at White Hart Lane go, it was one of the most significant in our famous former home's history.
We dominated the second half and had chances to extend our lead through Baily, Ramsey, Duquemin and Walters, but one goal was enough and when the final whistle blew, it signalled our first-ever League Championship success.
The trophy was presented to captain Burgess by Arthur Drewry, President of the Football League, but not that afternoon. We had to wait another week before we finally got our hands on the coveted silverware, the presentation taking place after our 3-1 win here against Liverpool.
Champions at last!
Match details
Saturday, 28 April, 1951
White Hart Lane
Division One
Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Duquemin)
Sheffield Wednesday 0
Spurs: Ditchburn, Ramsey, Willis, Nicholson, Clarke, Burgess, Walters, Murphy, Duquemin, Baily, Medley.
Wednesday: McIntosh, Jackson, Curtis, Henry, Packard, Witcomb, Finney, Sewell, Woodhead, Froggatt, Rickett.